Tuesday was considered "a soft deadline" of sorts for the New York Knicks and Miles McBride to reach an agreement on a contract extension. Ultimately, no deal was signed.
Despite this failed extension signing, the New York Post's Stefan Bondy isn't writing off the possibility of one being inked at a later date.
Of course, even if one is signed, McBride's long-term future with the Knicks might still be up in the air.
While most may be under the impression that all veteran extensions carry a six-month trade restriction, which, in theory, should keep the guard in New York for at least another season, per the CBA's guidelines, there are a few loopholes that would allow New York to circumvent this.
It all comes down to three very specific factors.
The first is that any agreed-upon extension between McBride and the Knicks cannot be for more than three additional seasons beyond the 2026-27 campaign.
Second, his annual salary cannot fluctuate in any direction by more than 5.0 percent per year.
Finally, any new deal McBride signs with New York cannot equate to more than 120 percent of the league’s median salary.
As things currently stand, the 25-year-old is eligible for up to four years with his next deal, which adds one of several hurdles to negotiations between him and the Knicks.
Nevertheless, should each of these aforementioned boxes be checked off, even though the two parties may not have come to a contract resolution by Tuesday's deadline, the Knicks could still realistically use McBride as some sort of trade chip mid-season if need be.
Miles McBride widely viewed as solution to Knicks' center depth woes
This CBA wrinkle is important to keep in mind, as McBride has been tabbed as a popular asset the Knicks could realistically use to address their current depth woes at the center position.
From his widely accepted status as the best trade chip in the second unit for the Knicks to his reputation of being the fifth most underrated player in the NBA right now, someone of Deuce's reputation could certainly net New York a worthwhile player on the trade market.
This could certainly come in handy at some point between now and the February deadline.
Right now, the Knicks have Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond as their lone two pivot options, and Leon Rose and company are believed to be highly interested in adding at least one more into the mix.
Though they could theoretically look to snatch up one of the available bigs still residing on the free agency market, as SNY's insider Ian Begley recently stated, "if they wanted to sign one of these centers on a guaranteed one-year deal, the Knicks would have done so already."
Because of this, one could easily surmise that the trade route may be New York's preferred course of action when it comes to their search for another center.
Sadly, McBride's inclusion may ultimately be necessary to execute such a move.
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